


Delighted.  1/1.

by punky_96



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Genre: American style Harry Potter storyverse, Gen, Pre-Slash, elements from Harry Potter, halloween fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 10:50:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13762542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punky_96/pseuds/punky_96
Summary: Re-post from LJ.  More fluff.Prompt: Miranda/Andy, haunted (town) houseSummary: Miranda better be careful what she wishes for. In an AU world with a Wizarding population living under the regular layer of society, and they don’t like the Harry Potter books too much, and Miranda is pushing Andrea away and asking for a haunted house for the twins is the last straw.There was a link to Hermione's PJs, but the webpage is gone now.Here is the link for Bella.  It still works.  And she is beautiful.  Anyone want to make her Cruella DeVille's comrade in some capacity?  Oh, the trouble, they could cause...Bellatrix the Beautiful: http://zithiraxbookofshadows.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/bellatrix_lestrange_by_gewissenskind.jpg





	Delighted.  1/1.

_**Delighted**_  
  
The weather had turned overnight with a sharp frost. The puddles sported uneven tops of ice and drivers had to scrape their windshields with credit cards to get going in the morning. Andrea loved this time of year with it’s mixture of weather as nature decided to finally give up the ghost of summer and put on its bini hat. The day had warmed from the overnight lows and the sun even had made an appearance. Halloween was coming soon and with it brought thoughts of growing up with corn mazes, school carnivals, and late nights with Lily and scary movies and too much sugar. She wondered what New Yorkers did for Halloween. There were no corn fields.  
  
Miranda had come in riding the remnants of the frost's chill, her posture was as rigid as ever, and her list of instructions was longer than… Andrea kept pace with Miranda in the heels now, which she was proud of, but the writing would always feel like a step behind. “The girls want a haunted house.” Andrea stumbled in her heels and nearly dropped her notepad at that last command, but Miranda had dropped her coat and bag on the desk and entered her own by the time she had the courage to actually say something, so it was lost in the air between them.  
  
She was certain now that Miranda wanted to drive her away. ‘Unpublished Harry Potter manuscript, my ass.’ Andrea thought slamming her four inch Jimmy Choo into the floor with a childish huff.  
  
“I’ll be back.” Andrea threw out toward Emily, as she passed her on the way to her desk. She ignored the first assistant’s indignant scolding. Miranda wanted a Haunted House for her girls. She was going to get the mother of all Haunted Houses. ‘That Muggle won’t know what hit her!’ Andrea scowled at the wall of the empty office, she had found during the previous month. Whipping out her cell phone, she dialed quickly. “I need you Tuesday at 4pm. Bring your wand.” Andrea ground out that last sentence grimly.  
  
“B-b-but Andy, you said, you said ‘no wands in New York.’” Lily would admit (if pressed) to using hers, but not on anything major. She didn’t want Andrea to catch her, so obviously disregarding their pact. “I won’t use any unforgivables.”  
  
Growling a bit, Andrea answered her friend. “If I was gonna kill her, it’d be in a fit of rage and already done. I can hide a body.” Lily found this oddly soothing as she realized that her friend wouldn’t call her to kill someone. No, this was something else.  
  
“Okay.” Lily stretched the word out into a question without turning up the inflection at the end. She knew she was going to agree, but she wanted a little more information than Andrea had given her so far. She was going to have to cancel with Jeremy for this after all.  
  
“First it was the Harry Potter manuscript.” Andrea said in her sauciest voice ever. Oh, she was mad. Lily couldn’t remember the last time she had heard her friend so mad. Then again that book series had not gone over well in their community. “Now, she wants a haunted house. We’re gonna give her one and she’s gonna stop trying to get rid of me.”  
  
Lily had a very clear image in her mind of Clint Eastwood. For a flash, she wondered if the cruciatus curse wouldn’t be easier after all. Nothing a little memory charm couldn’t fix. In fact, maybe that was what she should do to Andrea. Ever since she met _that woman_ it was a hailstorm of shit and Andrea just thrived on challenging the woman, who seemed hell-bent on breaking her friend. It was painful to watch their sparks fly even from her removed position, but Lily couldn’t deny it was love—painful, but love. Maybe a memory charm for Andrea would do the trick.  
  
“I am not giving up, Lily. So stop plotting against me.” Andrea had always been able to read into her silences well enough to come up with the right thing to say like that. It was creepy because it wasn’t even a magical talent. No, it was pure instinct.  
  
“I’ll be there.” Lily said as she looked bug-eyed at her phone and closed it.  
  
The days had passed in their hectic way, while the temperatures continued to drop. Scarves had been brought out to go with longer, warmer coats. Umbrellas were tucked into purses and people stepped carefully as the winds picked up as well. Andrea had not updated her about the haunted house, and Miranda was beginning to wonder, if she had gone one step too far. True, she had wanted to drive the girl away, but she had come to realize the reason for that and now she was unsure if she ultimately wanted her to leave or to come closer to her.  
  
Tuesday morning found Miranda walking towards her office trying to pull her jaw back up. Andrea had been bent over her desk fanning the magazines and the black low cut of her top made her smooth white skin stand out even more than usual. Miranda’s eyes followed the line of the neck down into the juncture of Andrea’s cleavage. The curve of her breasts jostled just slightly as she reached to move the farthest magazine corner and then stood with her hands on her hips. Miranda drank in the vision of Andrea’s long brown hair partially pulled up, but somehow deliberately messy. She glowed or sparkled, and Miranda sensed there was something ethereal and beautiful about her. For a second, she could see Andrea in all white with some kind of wings and a crown.  
  
Then Andrea smiled at her with those full dark red lips that Miranda had dreamed of more than once, and suddenly Miranda felt the danger. The curls in her hair, the strategically ripped sleeves that showed more skin than they covered, and the darkness behind that smile made themselves known and suddenly Miranda remembered Belatrix Lestrange from the twins’ latest early Harry Potter film.  
  
The combination was utterly bewitching and Miranda felt a jolt of desire go through her as she stumbled and then righted herself.  
  
When she looked again, Andrea was nowhere to be found.  
  
Emily greeted her, taking her coat and updating her on the day’s agenda and more than one schedule change that Miranda forced her mind to focus on. Where her second assistant had gone with that dazzling mixture of light and dark wrapped up in sensuality would remain a mystery. In fact, as Miranda rode home with the twins, she realized that she had never truly seen Andrea all day. It was as if she was always one step ahead and simply had left a ghost of herself to tantalize Miranda with want and mystery. Emily had seemed to see her, which was maddening. Several times, she had made comments about Andrea bringing back this or that item, texting her a response, or going about her daily business.  
  
Several times Miranda had seen Andrea walking in the halls of Runway or even riding with her in the car. Each time they had drunk the sight of each other in and just when Miranda was about to reach out or speak up, her gaze was diverted and Andrea was gone. In the car before going to get the twins, Andrea had appeared in the back seat waiting for her. Roy acted only as if he was letting Miranda into the car and so she schooled her features into remaining calm. Perhaps Andrea had some vixen in her and was reading her mind after all. ‘In which case, she could forget the haunted house,’ Miranda thought.  
  
Andrea had looked into her soul for many moments and just when Miranda’s feelings were going to fall from her lips in a confession waterfall, Andrea held her hand up and smiled that wickedly enticing smile from the morning. Before Miranda could speak a key fell from her hand on a velvet ribbon. The key looked very old. Miranda looked from the key to Andrea and back. “Bring the twins to the town house.” The words were whispered against her ear, but when Miranda turned to catch her lips or at least the girl, there was nothing—nothing but that key and the velvet ribbon on the seat next to her.  
  
The front fence had been decorated with vines and other items straight from a Hollywood set. The clouds ominously filling the sky and only allowing the sliver of moon an occasional glimpse seemed to have been orchestrated just for them. Miranda tightly held the key in one hand with the velvet ribbon that smelled of Andrea around her wrist. In her other hand, she held Cassidy’s hand. Her little fingers were squeezing Miranda’s and her sister’s hand for all she could. Halloween was not her favorite holiday. She liked the kind of Halloween that Jack Skellington sang about. Her romantic heart wasn’t too sure about the things actually in the dark corners. Caroline on Cassidy’s far side tolerated the squeezing. She was too enthralled by the outer decorations of their house to mind her sister’s fears. They added to what she was sure would be the perfect haunted house.  
  
Andrea had stopped by the school to let them know that the final preparations were being put in place and not to be too afraid. She promised Cassidy that she would be able to sleep after all was said and done.  
  
The car driving off was the signal. Miranda shared a glance with her girls and stepped forward toward their little gate. It would not budge and as they looked at it, Cassidy pointed out. “There’s a keyhole now.” Her voice was low with awe and uncertainty.  
  
“Go ahead, mom.” Caroline encouraged their mother.  
  
The kit fit easily into the lock and then Miranda turned it to the right and the little gate slipped open and the key fell out to dangle from her hand. Caroline stepped through the gate onto the sidewalk square leading to the front door. Cassidy followed her pulling Miranda along. Once all three were past the threshold, the house in front of them began to creak and groan.  The door expanded out from the middle, until it was split in two and a new door formed as another house grew from inside their own.  
  
All three of them gulped.  
  
Once the house had finished it’s transformation they stood there watching it. “Do we go in?” Caroline asked uncertainly.  
  
Miranda shook her head both in negative answer and disbelief.  
  
Cassidy remembered Andrea’s necklace and kind words. “Andy said it was for us.” She said and gripping their hands tightly, she stepped forward and pulled them up the steps to the new front door.  
  
The door opened as they stepped close and Caroline and Miranda held back behind Cassidy. She couldn’t explain, but she was able to tell what was coming next. When they dropped her hands, she reached up with her left hand to hold the pendant Andrea had given her that afternoon on it’s own burgundy velvet ribbon. She smiled while the others shivered.  
  
A black sparkling substance floated up from the floor and whirled into the figure of Andrea with wild hair and eyes flying toward them. Cassidy smiled, knowing Andy must have worked really hard on this for them. Caroline and Miranda turned their faces to the side as the figure swooped at them bringing with it a cold wind and a purring husky voice from the very walls themselves. “Be delighted. Be terrified.”  
  
Miranda couldn’t stop the pulse of desire between her legs to hear Andrea’s husky voice and to see her wild form.  
  
“Enterrr.” A voice growled from behind them. Miranda and Caroline turned to see a creature approaching them with its outstretched arms and claws only seen at a zoo.  
  
Squealing, Caroline and Miranda pushed a delighted Cassidy along.  
  
Steps moved, corridors elongated as they walked, and more than once a strange creature reached out to touch them. Cassidy knew they were being guided. Miranda and Caroline knew they were losing their minds. Even in Hollywood this kind of scare could only be managed in post-production and with a lot of very unscary computer geeks and their CGI creations.  
  
After a time that both stretched on for hours and seemed no more than a few moments at the same time, they arrived in what looked like a very normal kitchen. A dingy, empty, old kitchen from some other time and place, but it didn’t move or shift its shape. It had a plain wooden table scarred from use and four simple chairs. The tap dripped comfortingly into the sink, which had one blue porcelain bowl and a shiny tablespoon. The water dripped over the edge and trickled down into the drain. The windows on the far side reflected more moonlight than they should have. It was sincerely creepy and wholly safe at the same time.  
  
The backdoor slid open and Cassidy jumped up crossing over to greet the dark wild figure stepping in. “Were you delighted?” Andrea rested her hand on Cassidy’s shoulder and bent her head to look her in the eye. Cassidy pulled her down and whispered in her ear. Miranda watched with hungry eyes as the woman who had invaded her dreams for the last several months and most recently made her skin crawl with desire all day exchanged secrets with her youngest.  
  
Satisfied with their conversation, Cassidy took Andrea’s hand and pulled her closer to the table. Andrea’s wild curls framed her face, making her eyes sparkle that much more ethereally on this night of nights. Her delightfully pouting lips turned up into a breathtaking smile that sent her danger and delight nerves a-buzzing. For many moments, Andrea held Miranda’s gaze, but she did not speak.  
  
Looking over Cassidy’s shoulder to Caroline, Andrea’s face took on an aspect of beautiful benevolence. “And you, were you delighted?” With Cassidy there was an air of sharing a secret, but now with Caroline there was the feeling of comfort after an asked for but good scare. It seemed almost maternal to Miranda.  
  
Caroline scooted the chair out as she stood up, the wood scuffing across the uneven floor as she went. Andrea turned to face her as she went around her sister. Then bending down she too began to share secrets with her second assistant.  
  
Flabbergasted, Miranda could only watch as her darling girls took to Andrea as if she had always been their favorite adult. In one night, she had charmed them more than their favorite teachers, the nannies, Cora, Stephen, and their piano teacher. Thinking that Miranda paused, ‘no, it hadn’t been one night.’ It was suddenly clear to her that ever since the night they had lured her up to break up the fight between herself and Stephen, Andrea must surely have been working to win them over. Getting that damned Harry Potter manuscript had only served to seal their bond. Miranda suddenly felt delighted and defeated—she could never have driven Andrea away and now she seemed to know that Andrea had been onto her all along.  
  
Andrea stood and looked at her then, with a twin holding each other hands. Miranda wondered if she would be asked the same question, what it would be like to whisper in each other’s ears, and she even wondered what she would dare to whisper to this vixen, who had so totally stolen her heart. “Come along. It’s nearly time for bed.” Andrea smiled at Miranda and then turned with the girls walking confidently toward the door out of the kitchen. Miranda watched them go and hastened to follow.  
  
Once they were outside they found themselves once again at the gate of their own house looking at each other dumbfounded. Miranda looked around her, noticing the decorations on their front fence as they were before. The house seemed to be shrinking back and the two halves of the front door rapidly came together from the right and the left until it was only their house once more. They heard the sounds of the building closing in on itself just as they had earlier when they had first entered the gate and heard it growing up out of itself. Then with a grumble the street went quiet.  
  
Shivering from standing in the crisp October air, Miranda looked up. The moon was much higher in the sky, although it was the same crescent that they had started with. Wherever they had just been, they were certainly back on their own street. Caroline stepped forward to push the gate open and Miranda moved to intercept her. “Wait, the key.” Miranda reached out and used her other hand to grab the key. She was astounded to find no velvet and no key. Caroline pushed the gate open with a creak.  
  
“We don’t need it.” Caroline shrugged and then stepped onto the walkway.  
  
Cassidy looked at her mother, who seemed confused. “It’s gone, mom?” When her mother nodded, Cassidy pointed to where her necklace had been. “My charm is gone too.” She smiled and took Miranda’s hand. “Andy said…”  
  
What else her daughter told her was lost on Miranda as she blindly held her daughter’s hand and followed.  
  
The house had been richly decorated for Halloween, but the decorations were flat, inanimate and more pretty than scary. Cassidy was thrilled. This was her kind of Halloween. Looking around, she realized that they hadn’t even dressed up or gone trick-or-treating. It was still the best Halloween she’d ever had.  
  
Caroline came running back from the dining room, pulling her sister forcefully behind.  
  
A delightful jack-o-lantern sat in the middle of the table, the light of a candle flickering from inside. To each side of it was a Halloween bag with one of the girls’ names on it. It was full of candy to the point of over flowing. They spent many moments going through their treats until Cassidy and Caroline both gave a yawn. Seizing on the opportunity, Miranda encouraged them, “Come on, to bed, girls.”  
  
They each came to kiss her and then made their way up the stairs.  
  
Once again the spirit of enchantment was over them and Miranda blew out the candle and turned out the lights as she went up to their rooms. She found the girls dressed in pajamas that somehow resembled their favorite characters. Cassidy’s nightgown looked like Sally’s dress from the Nightmare Before Christmas. Caroline’s pink with the red flowers pajamas were the exact replica of Hermione’s from Harry Potter. Miranda felt her heart swell with the love of her children, their delight, and a tugging in her mind that Andrea was making all their dreams come true. It had been a rough year for them and somehow this night would outshine all of that other drudgery.  
  
Once the girls settled into their beds, Miranda made her way up to her bedroom. As she slipped off her clothes, placed her jewelry away, and washed her face, she couldn’t help feeling torn between her desires. On the one hand, Andrea had given her girls a spectacular night to remember, and on the other, she hadn’t made Miranda’s dreams come true. She didn’t want to feel ungrateful, but whatever magic Andrea had possessed seemed to really hit the mark on so many things, only to fall short on this one. She wondered if her search for perfection really was in vain. Perhaps she was reaching for the stars?  
  
The moonlight barely illuminated her room as she approached the bed. Andrea lay barefoot in her costume of the day in the middle of her bed. Miranda felt her heart flip flop, but didn’t dare believe the girl wouldn’t disappear. Somehow she still couldn’t ignore the apparition and shed her bra and pants as she wanted to and climbed into the bed. The younger woman needed to disappear before she could do that.  
  
Andrea’s hair was so dark against the ivory of her silken bedding. Her skin shone where it was exposed, luminescent and making Miranda’s fingers tingle with the desire to touch. Her cheeks turned rosy as her so red lips curved into a smile and then opened to reveal her teeth. Miranda could not move. She was transfixed by the look in Andrea’s eyes and the curve of her lips.  
  
Andrea’s hand flicked toward the door and Miranda broke her gaze to follow her flick as she heard the door lock. Miranda bit her lip knowing she had fallen for a trick once again, that once more when she turned back to look, Andrea would be gone.  
  
Only she wasn’t. No, Andrea was sitting up now, her body only covered by a black bra and pants. The contrast of their light and dark hair and undergarments took Miranda’s breath away. She knew her bedroom looked like a room of seduction and love from a movie. She had always longed to feel this way—to be seduced and loved, to have her dreams fulfilled with magic.  
  
“And you, Miranda, were you delighted?” Andrea questioned her with a smile. “Come.  Whisper to me.” Miranda didn’t dare take her eyes off of Andrea as she stepped forward and climbed up onto the bed.

 

  
  
**The End.**  
  
x


End file.
